


Brave New World: Flash

by Lauriverfanboy1



Series: Brave New World [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Metahuman Iris West, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29321385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lauriverfanboy1/pseuds/Lauriverfanboy1
Summary: My name is Barry Allen. After restoring the multiverse, I woke up to find myself back at the beginning of my journey and now that I am armed with knowledge of what is to come, I know I can prevent it from happening again. Threats, both new and old are coming to my city and I'm the only one fast enough to stop them. I am the Flash. Part two of Brave New World Series.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon & Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen & Eddie Thawne, Barry Allen & Oliver Queen, Barry Allen/Iris West, Cecile Horton/Joe West, Eddie Thawne & Iris West, Eddie Thawne/Jesse Wells, Kamilla Hwang/Cisco Ramon, Ronnie Raymond/Caitlin Snow
Series: Brave New World [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151483
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

The last thing Barry remembered before he blacked out at the Dawn of Time was crying and mourning Oliver's death. He wasn't sure how long he and Sara had been sitting there before blacking out, but when he came too, he was surprised by what was happening. Or rather, what he was hearing, because it was something he'd recognize anywhere. Lady Gaga singing Poker Face.

"Seriously Cisco, can't you just let a guy wake up on his own time?" Barry grumbled as he sat up, but he was surprised when he sat up to find that while he was in Star Labs, it wasn't the way he expected it to be. In fact, he was getting a strange sense of deja vu from the first time he'd ever woken up in this building after his coma.

"What is going on? How did I get back here?" Barry asked, right as Cisco and Caitlin entered.

"Look, I told you it would wake him up." Cisco said to Caitlin.

"Yeah yeah, don't gloat. Now that he's awake, I need to start running tests on him." Caitlin said, confusing Barry further, but for some reason, a voice in his head just said to play along.

"Where am I? How did I get here?" Barry asked, though he did not have to pretend to be confused or panicked, since he was definitely feeling both of those emotions, just for different reasons than what Cisco and Caitlin thought, though what he could not figure out was why they were acting like they didn't know him.

However, he was driven from his thoughts when he heard a voice that still haunted him in his nightmares, since even though he'd heard it from several different dopplegangers, he'd never forget that specific version of it.

"Calm down Mr. Allen. You're at Star Labs. Your foster father and fiance brought you here after you were struck by lightning." Eobard Thawne, posing as Harrison Wells, said as he wheeled up to them.

"You're, you're Harrison Wells." Barry said, wondering what the hell was going on and having to resist the urge to shove his vibrating hand into Thawne's chest, since honestly, after what happened to Nora, he was done treating the Reverse Flash with kid gloves. He may not like killing, but if there was one thing he'd learned from Oliver Queen, it's that sometimes there was no other choice and it had become clear that Thawne had left him no other choice. If he'd just killed Thawne when he had the chance, he never would've been able to lure in Nora and as such, Barry wouldn't have had to watch his daughter be erased from existence right in front of him. Fighting Cicada had shown him that he couldn't be so precious about getting the Flash's hands dirty anymore and he was done fighting Thawne without being willing to do whatever it takes to stop him. He wouldn't let anyone else die because of his inability to do whatever it took to stop him.

"Yes I am." Thawne said, having no idea that Barry was on to him.

"What happened?" Barry asked.

"As you may recall, 9 months ago, Star Labs turned on our new particle accelerator. For about half an hour, things went flawlessly and we all felt like conquering heroes. Then something went wrong and triggered a chain reaction, which led to the accelerator exploding, releasing a wave of energy that mixed with the storm at the time and you were struck by lightning and put in a coma. After doctors failed to be able to save you, I convinced your fiance Iris West and her father to let me bring you here where we saved you." Thawne said, that new bit of information taking Barry for a loop.

"Okay, this is a lot to process." Barry said.

"I'm sure it is, but right now I need you to pee into this cup." Caitlin said as she held out a specimen cup, which nearly caused Barry to chuckle at the deja vu.

"Yeah, that sounds great, but can I get some air first?" Barry asked.

Caitlin was about to protest but Thawne held up his hand.

"I think all those tests can wait until tomorrow. Mr. Allen has missed 9 months of his life, I think we can give him one night." Thawne said and Caitlin reluctantly nodded and moved away from Barry who was now even more confused than before, wondering what the hell was going on here, since when he looked in the cortex, he saw that the mannequin for his suit was gone.

"Thank you. I'll be back tomorrow so you can run some tests on me." Barry said, though he had no intention of leaving Star Labs quite yet. There was a stop he needed to make before he left.

After making sure that no one was following him, Barry made his way to where he knew the Time Vault was hidden and opened the door, but to his surprise, when he walked through it, he did not find himself in the Time Vault, but back in Mar Novu's realm.

"I should've known you'd have something to do with this. What the hell is going on?" Barry asked.

"This is the new world you helped create Barry Allen." Novu said.

"Still. I don't understand, why am I back at the time I woke up from my coma, what is going on?" Barry asked.

"Everyone who was involved in the restoration of the multiverse has awoken on this new world on the day that the age of heroes truly began." Novu said.

"The day Oliver came back from Lian Yu." Barry realized and Novu nodded.

"So Oliver is alive?" Barry asked.

"Yes and it is the Oliver Queen you knew. It would appear that against all the odds, he still found yet another way to cheat death." Novu said and Barry chuckled.

"If anyone could find a way around it, it would be him." Barry agreed.

"Anyways, it appears that one of the changes to this new world is that the particle accelerator went off two years early." Novu said.

"So now my journey begins on the day as Oliver's does." Barry said and Novu nodded.

"You've been given a chance to do things differently than you did before and hopefully save those you lost." Novu said and Barry nodded.

"There's one thing I have to know. My mom?" Barry asked.

"I am sorry Barry Allen, but only so many things can be fixed. It would appear that certain events remained fixed in order to allow you to become the man you are now and unfortunately, your mother's death is one of those events." Novu said.

"I figured it was too much to hope for, but I had to ask." Barry said and Novu nodded.

"To help you avoid any further confusion, I am going to give you the memories of your counterpart from this earth so that you can blend in. Also, before you put any of your plans into motion, wait until you've met J'onn J'onzz, since like you and Oliver, the other paragons, except Lex Luthor, since I was sure to wipe his memory, will remember the old world and J'onn will be able to help you to restore the memories of your friends and teammates." Novu said and Barry nodded as Novu waved his hand as Barry felt the memories of his doppelganger enter his mind, though he still had his own memories, since he could tell the difference, before Novu sent him back to earth, where he quickly left and closed the time vault before heading out of the building.


	2. Chapter 2

After returning to Earth from the Monitor's realm, Barry decided that if he was truly going operate under Thawne's nose, he'd need to change the game a bit as he entered the time vault for real this time and glared at Thawne's suit before going over to the plinth and activating Gideon.

"Good evening Barry Allen, I was not expecting you so soon." Gideon said.

"Gideon, I need you to alter all of Thawne's surveillance camera footage so that he doesn't know I'm onto him, including masking when I use my speed before I show it to him and record no knowledge of this meeting happening." Barry said.

"Done. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Gideon asked.

"Pull up the newspaper article regarding Crisis." Barry said, since he needed to see for himself.

"Right away." Gideon said as she projected the newspaper article from the plinth and Barry smiled when he saw what it read.

"Flash Lives, saves Central City and the world from Crisis by Iris West-Allen." Barry said with a grin, since it looked like this article had been published in 2019 and it showed that this time around, he survived Crisis.

"Did the article always look like this?" Barry asked.

"Negative. Until you woke up, the article said that you vanished fighting the Reverse Flash in 2024, though records say that event no longer exists." Gideon said.

"Do you still have the original article on hand?" Barry asked.

"Yes, why?" Gideon asked.

"Do not alert Thawne to this change in the timeline and whenever he asks, make sure to show him the original article. I do not want him to know that I'm on to him or that the future has changed in any way." Barry said.

"Understood. I'm assuming that you do not want him to know about this either?" Gideon asked and Barry nodded.

"Also, one more thing." Barry said.

"What is it?" Gideon asked.

"If you detect Thawne showing interest in any of my descendants at any time, alert me immediately." Barry said.

"Of course." Gideon said as she made the adjustments Barry asked her to before erasing all records of this encounter in her logs to make sure that Thawne was left unaware before going offline, at which point, Barry left the Time Vault and made his way out of Star Labs, since before he met up with Iris, there was someone else that he was pretty sure he'd need to visit first, which was why, as soon as he was clear from Star Labs, Barry sped off towards Ivy Town.

It took him a little while, but Barry quickly found Ryan at his office.

"Dr. Choi." Barry said.

"Barry. What the hell is going on here? Why did I wake up with a headache and two different sets of memories of my life?" Ryan asked him.

"The monitor didn't visit you before you woke up?" Barry asked.

"No and honestly, I'm glad he didn't, since I want as little interaction with him as possible." Ryan said.

"A sentiment shared by everyone who's ever met him." Barry said.

"Anyways, what's going on? I get that we restored the universe, but shouldn't we have woken up back in the same time the universe was in when it died?" Ryan asked.

"Based on what Novu told me, it sounds like since Oliver was the one who actually lit the spark that reignited the universe, we all got sent back to the beginning of his journey, which translates to the day he returned home from Lian Yu." Barry said.

"Okay, I'll act like that makes some kind of sense." Ryan said.

"Face it Ryan, the world stopped making sense when the particle accelerator blew up." Barry said.

"True." Ryan said.

"I just stopped by to check in, since I figured that you might be freaking out, since unlike the rest of us, you haven't been involved in this world for very long and I know that it takes a while to get used to the craziness of it." Barry said.

"Thanks. Yeah, I have to admit, I was freaking out big time when I first woke up." Ryan said.

"Yeah, I wonder why Novu gave you the memories of your counterpart from his earth, but didn't actually talk to you, since it probably would've helped you adapt to this new world." Barry said.

"Yeah tell me about it." Ryan said.

"You know, if you want out of this world, we can ask J'onn to erase your memories of the old world." Barry said, since while Ryan was a genius and he knew that he could definitely come in handy, especially if that newspaper article he'd seen in the time vault was any indication, since it meant that another crisis was coming, but he wasn't going to force the man to stay in this world, so he was offering him an out.

"I appreciate that Barry, but I don't want an out. This world may be crazy, but honestly, knowing that I helped to create it, helped to bring back everyone who was lost, it does give me a good sense of pride. Even though no one will ever know about what I did outside of a select group, I can live on knowing that I helped save the world. And who knows, maybe someday I'll help save it again." Ryan said and Barry smiled.

"I'm happy to hear that, since with a mind like yours, you'll definitely come in handy. But hopefully not as the paragon of humanity again." Barry said and Ryan nodded in agreement with that.

"Yeah, let's hope that the anti monitor really is dead, so that way we don't have to deal with another crisis." Ryan said.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Barry said, though he was fairly certain that their fight with Mobius was not yet over, but hopefully, they'd have some time to prepare before he came around. That was why the first chance Barry got, he was going to show Cisco and Caitlin the article in the time vault so that they could begin preparing for the anti monitor's arrival. Until then, he decided it was best not to let on.

"You should probably get back to Central City before anyone gets suspicious." Ryan said and Barry nodded.

"I just wanted to check in with you first. If you find yourself being overwhelmed by anything, feel free to give me a call." Barry said.

"I will, thanks Barry." Ryan said, right as Barry's phone buzzed.

"Speaking of getting back to Central City, that was a text from Iris asking where I am, since apparently she's already discovered that I'm awake. By the way, expect an invite to our wedding." Barry said and Ryan nodded as Barry sped out of the lab.

Like the text from Iris asked, Barry sped towards Joe's house and he stopped just short of where he knew Thawne's camera footage started, since while Gideon was manipulating the footage, he didn't want to take any chances and he quickly, but humanly, made his way to Joe's house and just opened the door before walking in to find Joe and Iris waiting for him.

"About time you showed up. I thought that the fastest man alive would be quicker." Iris said and Barry just grinned.

"I'm guessing J'onn paid a visit to Central City while I was gone?" Barry asked and Iris smiled and nodded as she walked up and kissed her fiance's cheek.

"Looks like we survived crisis. All of us." Iris said.

"Even Oliver did and Joe, I think you owe him an apology the next time you see him." Barry said and Joe nodded.

"I know. Queen proved me even more wrong than I ever imagined possible. You were right Barry. He is a hero and I finally understand why you look up to him so much." Joe said and Barry nodded.

"Wait, should we really be talking about all this when Thawne has us under surveillance?" Iris asked.

"Don't worry about that. First thing I did after I woke up was go into the time vault and have Gideon manipulate the footage so that Thawne doesn't know we're onto him." Barry said.

"Smart." Joe said.

"I learned it from growing up with a cop. Still wish you'd let Iris grow up to be one." Barry said.

"Can we not start that back up again." Joe said before Iris could tag in.

"I'm happy being a reporter now." Iris assured him.

"Good. But anyways, where were you Bar? I would've thought you'd have come to see us as soon as you got out of Star Labs." Joe asked.

"I went to check on Ryan Choi, since all of the paragons, with the fortunate exception of Lex Luthor, woke up on this world already aware of what was going on." Barry said.

"Yeah, J'onn told us that." Iris confirmed.

"Good. But anyways, do you guys know if Cisco and Caitlin have had their minds restored yet?" Barry asked as the door opened again.

"Yes we have and J'onn has even given me the data I need to create some tech that will allow us to replicate his abilities and wake additional people up." Cisco said as he and Caitlin entered the house.

"Now you guys probably know why I acted the way I did when I woke up." Barry said.

"Yeah and honestly, I was amazed you didn't just put your hand through Thawne's chest when you got the chance, since he was powerless at that time." Cisco said.

"He'll get what's coming to him, but right now isn't the right time, since right now the world thinks that he's just a disgraced scientist and not the identity stealing psychopath he really is." Barry said.

"Well, when you do face him, you won't be alone." Caitlin said.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Barry asked and Caitlin nodded as her eyes glowed silver.

"Frost is back." Cisco said as Caitlin took back control.

"Yeah, when J'onn restored my memories, he also woke her up and restored her memories too. She's agreed to wait until Thawne is dealt with to start living her own life, since we don't want to tip him off too much." Caitlin said.

"So we'll have Flash and Frost back in the field." Barry said.

"And Vibe." Cisco said.

"Wait what?" Iris asked as Cisco opened a breach to the other side of the room.

"You have your powers back." Barry said and Cisco nodded.

"We can start working on the cure." Caitlin offered.

"No, I mean, yes we should start working on the cure for other metas, but I'm not gonna take it this time around." Cisco said.

"Really, what about everything you said about wanting a normal life?" Barry asked.

"Dude, my life stopped being normal the moment I started working for Eobard Thawne and honestly, I did miss being Vibe. Especially since I can't stop thinking that maybe if I hadn't given it up, maybe I could've at least saved Harry and Jesse." Cisco said.

"Cisco, that's not on you." Barry said.

"No Barry, if I'd had my powers, I could've vibed the destruction of Earth 2 before it happened and gotten Harry and Jesse to safety." Cisco said as Caitlin placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Cisco, of course we're happy that you want to stay Vibe this time around, but we just want to make sure that you're not doing it out of guilt." Caitlin said and Cisco sighed.

"Look, it's not just guilt. While I know I still brought my value to the team after I took the cure, I also felt like my role had been reduced slightly, since I couldn't help the team in the way I used to. Giving up being Vibe was a mistake, since I realize now that he's a part of me and I shouldn't reject him." Cisco said.

"Well then, welcome back. We'll need our suits." Barry said and Cisco nodded.

"Already working on yours, since Central City needs the Flash more than any other heroes, though Frost will get her suit shortly after, so please don't let her ice blast me." Cisco promised Caitlin, who nodded.

"You should also start working on a suit for Wally, since he deserves to have his speed back." Barry said.

"And not just Wally." Joe said.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"You seem not to have noticed that even before you came to live here, you weren't an only child in this reality." Joe said as memories quickly appeared for Barry.

"Jesse. She's my sister in this universe." Barry said and Joe nodded.

"And I already promised her that she could be the maid of honor at our wedding, though honestly, while we're still going through with the big ceremony, since we were technically already married on the old world, I don't think I want to wait till the date on our invitations, though we now need to send some to Star City, National City, Gotham, Metropolis and the Waverider." Iris said.

"The Legends haven't even been assembled yet. We should wait until we get confirmation that any of them besides Sara remember anything." Barry said and Iris nodded.

"Anyways, what were you saying Iris?" Joe asked.

"I was thinking that while we're still going to have our big wedding, I think that maybe we should also go to city hall with the people in this city who already know the truth, meaning the people in this house and just get married there, since honestly, it's weird thinking of Barry as my fiance again." Iris said.

"I agree with that." Barry admitted and the other three nodded in agreement.

"Before we go our separate ways for the night, is there anyone else who's minds we should restore for either when I get the tech finished or when we J'onn again?" Cisco asked.

"Cecille, Ralph, Allegra, maybe Captain Singh." Barry said.

"What about Jesse?" Joe asked.

"I don't know, since even though she is the counterpart of the Jesse we knew before, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. That one is one to think about." Barry said.

"We should also consider your dad, though maybe we should wait till he gets out of prison to think about that." Iris said and Barry nodded in agreement as they finally decided to go their separate ways for the night.

The following day found Barry, Iris, Joe, Cisco and Caitlin down at City Hall where Barry and Iris had agreed on a quick and generic ceremony now and then saving the emotional one for their big wedding.

After filling out the marriage license, the city employee got to the good part.

"Do you, Bartholomew Henry Allen take Iris Anne West to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the employee asked.

"I do." Barry said.

"And do you, Iris Anne West, take Bartholomew Henry Allen to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the employee asked.

"I do." Iris said.

"Then, by the power vested in me by the courts of Central City, I hereby pronounce you husband wife, you may kiss the bride." the employee said as Barry and Iris kissed while Caitlin and Cisco clapped and Joe filmed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, unexpected and yes, there will be a more romantic and emotional wedding later on in the story, I just felt that since Barry and Iris were already married on the old earth, they may not have wanted to wait until the wedding date they'd already chosen to get married again, so I threw that in at the end of this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not giving any spoilers, but FYI, the season premiere of the Flash, totally worth the wait and now my week feels like it's complete with the scarlet speedster back.

After their quick wedding at City Hall, Barry decided to go see his father and Iris decided to come with him, since she wanted to make sure Henry knew that she believed that he was innocent and now so did her dad and they were working to get him out of prison.

That was why they found themselves sitting in the visitation room at Iron Heights prison and Barry smiled when he saw his dad being brought out, since even though he was still in prison for a crime he hadn't committed, at least he was alive again.

"Hey slugger. Iris, what a surprise. I haven't seen you." Henry said.

"Since before you went to prison for a crime you didn't commit." Iris said.

"Really, so what changed your mind?" Henry asked.

"Nothing, because I never doubted Barry's story. We live in a world where Superman is a thing, so while there may be a lot we don't understand, I don't see why what happened that night didn't really happen the way Barry said it did." Iris said.

"So, did you just come by to tell me that you believe me?" Henry asked.

"No, we actually came by because we have some big news." Barry said.

"I already know you two are engaged." Henry said.

"Yeah, except that we actually got married at the courthouse this morning." Iris said as she showed him her wedding ring.

"Really, what caused that change in plans?" Henry asked.

"Oh, we're still doing the whole big wedding thing, but considering the fact that we already lost the nine months I was in a coma for, we decided that we didn't want to waste anymore time. But do me a favor and don't tell Jesse, since we decided to keep it under wraps." Barry said and Henry nodded.

"Honestly Barry, you know that won't be a problem, since unlike you, your sister has believed the same story as everyone else. She thinks that I killed your mother, simply because she wasn't there like you were that night." Henry said, since Jesse had been at a sleepover when her mother had been murdered.

"Yeah, I wish I could convince Jesse of the truth." Barry said.

"We did manage to convince someone else though." Iris said.

"Really, who?" Henry asked.

"My dad." Iris said, taking Henry aback in surprise.

"I thought that Joe would be even harder to convince than Jesse." Henry said.

"Well, some new circumstances that we can't get into have come around that have forced dad to broaden his horizons a bit." Iris said.

"He's reopening your case." Barry said.

"Really. Well that's not something I ever thought I'd hear." Henry said.

"Things are changing dad and I know that you'll be free again soon." Barry said and Henry smiled.

"Just don't put off your wedding for that day." Henry said.

"I promise." Barry said.

"And I'll make sure he keeps that promise." Iris said and Henry chuckled.

"Iris, if there's anyone I trust to keep my son in line and his priorities straight, it's you." Henry said with a grin and Iris smiled.

"You're not wrong." Iris said as she kissed her husband's cheek, right as they were told that time was up and Henry was taken back to his cell.

"He's not going to stay in prison for much longer." Barry said.

"No he's not. We're gonna prove his innocence. And this time we're going to beat the man who put him in here when we do." Iris agreed as they walked out of the prison.

The team spent the next few days adjusting to their new reality. Barry revealed his speed to Thawne in a much more planned matter than before and managed to get Thawne to agree to let him help the city and use Star Labs as his base again, not that Barry doubted that would be an issue, and Cisco and Caitlin had both revealed their powers to Thawne as well and Iris and Joe were both "brought into" the fold once again, since this time, Barry did not want to have to pretend to lie to Iris. Especially since he didn't need to.

Cisco had secretly tasked the Star Labs satellite, and inwardly he was groaning about being limited to only one again and making notes to build more, to run facial recognition searches for Ronnie, Professor Stein or Jax, since they honestly did not know who had been merged into Firestorm this time around, but he was also reluctantly doing a search for Hartley Rathaway, since they needed someone to give them a reason to look into Thawne in the first place. He was also working on a quantum splicer for Firestorm to use, since until they could prepare a cure for firestorm, since they all knew that once they restored Stein's memories, he was more than likely going to want to retire while whoever his other partner was was likely to want to continue on. And as always, he found himself busy making supersuits. First Barry's, then Frost's, then his own of course, and then he also had suits to make for Team Arrow and the Legends, since he'd made practically all of team Arrow's suits and while Ray could create his own suit, since Cisco had no intention of taking one of Ray's greatest achievements from him, Cisco still felt that he was more qualified to make the White Canary suit and the Steel suit and while he felt like he should know better, he was even making the cold, heat and gold guns for Snart, Rory and Lisa. As for Supergirl, well, he had ideas for her, but only if she actually came to him about it. He was also close to finishing the prototype for the tech needed to replicate J'onn's powers, since they needed to be able to restore other people's memories without needing to force the Martian to drop everything to give them a hand.

Anyways, the team had essentially turned Barry and Iris's new loft into their makeshift base, since until thawne was dealt with, anything regarding things from the future could not be discussed where he could hear them and right now they were gathered in the living room, since Barry had called a team meeting.

"Okay Barry, what's up? Why did you call this meeting?" Cisco asked.

"Because I have an idea about dealing with Thawne that I want to run by you guys." Barry said.

"Okay, and what might that be?" Caitlin asked.

"I want to use the cure on him." Barry said, taking them all by surprise.

"You know that Thawne would never agree to take the metahuman cure, even if we could create it behind his back, since if he's involved, he'll likely be able to find a way to shield himself from it." Cisco said.

"I know, that's why I want to make an exception to the rule you guys came up with about not forcing the cure on someone." Barry said.

"Barry, are you sure that you want to risk doing something like that, since a lot of things can go wrong. What happens if Thawne uses the cure against one of you three?" Iris asked.

"Thawne won't use it on me unless he finds another way home and honestly, I'm not even sure if the cure would actually work on Frost." Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Joe asked, but Caitlin caught on.

"You're right. It's the same reason she was affected by Cicada's dagger. We designed the cure to only affect metas who got their powers from dark matter. Frost didn't, which means that unless the cure was modified, it wouldn't affect her." Caitlin said.

"Yeah, but that still leaves me and while I've managed to adjust to life post Vibe, I don't think I want to this time around. Look, Thawne is the one case where I am all for putting the cure in him against his will, especially since it means that he'll actually stay dead, but honestly, I think that there are just too many variables and risks to take into consideration on a plan like that. Especially since knowing Thawne, he likely will be able to modify the cure to be able to remove Frost from Caitlin for good. We need a different strategy." Cisco said and Barry sighed, since while he didn't like it, he knew his friends were right.

"What about the speed force prison?" Iris asked.

"That might work." Joe said.

"Except for another factor that we don't know about on this new earth." Barry said.

"And that would be?" Joe asked.

"The speed force prison can only hold one occupant at a time and we could end up trading Thawne for another problem." Barry said.

"Savitar." Cisco said and Barry nodded.

"But Savitar was erased from existence and you'll never become him now." Joe said.

"We don't know that for sure. The world has already been reset to the way it was before Oliver returned home from Lian Yu, which means that technically, we haven't defeated him yet." Barry said.

"Barry's right, there are too many unknown factors to risk locking Thawne in the speed force prison." Caitlin said.

"But luckily, we have a way to find out." Cisco said and Barry nodded.

"I'll head into the speed force to find out. I probably owe it an apology anyways." Barry admitted.

"For what?" Joe asked, wondering how you could owe a force an apology.

"When Bloodwork infected me, I attacked the speed force when it was trying to help me. I need to make amends for that." Barry said and they all nodded as Barry took a deep breath before heading outside and speeding off into the speed force.

However, when Barry entered the speed force, he was immediately concerned by what he saw. The speed force looked like chaos. It felt out of whack.

"What the hell happened here?" Barry asked.

"This is the result of your actions Barry Allen." his mother's voice said and Barry turned to see his mother, though she looked sick, like she was barely managing to cling to life.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked.

"We're dying because of what you did to us." the speed force said.

"Wait, because I attacked you? I'm so sorry, I didn't think this would happen." Barry said, horrified.

"That's not what I mean. A few days ago, an unknown energy entered the speed force. It was unlike anything we'd ever encountered and it has already begun to destabilize the speed force. We can't contain it much longer and soon it will destroy us." the speed force said.

"The spectre's energy. I didn't know." Barry said as he realized that what he'd made Oliver do was the cause of this.

"It's okay Barry Allen. You did what you had to do to save the world. We don't blame you for this." the speed force said.

"How can I fix this? Just tell me what to do and I will do it. It's only been a few days, there has to be something I can do to get the energy out." Barry said.

"It's too late. We can't contain the energy much longer and it will consume us" the speed force said.

"There has to be something I can do to fix this." Barry said desperately.

"There isn't. We're dying and there isn't anything you can do to stop it. Once we're gone, you'll only have a short amount of steps left until we're gone from you forever." the speed force said.

"No, there has to be something I can do." Barry said.

"All you can do is make the most of the limited time you have left with us and put your remaining speed to good use, which we know you will. Just know that you were right when you believed that we chose you. And it was the best choice we ever made as his mother faded away and Barry found himself ejected out of the speed force, horrified at what had happened because of him. But then he remembered that while he may be losing his speed, there was a way to get it back. Unfortunately, there was only one person who could make it happen, which made Barry's blood boil, but he knew he had no choice.

"So, how'd it go?" Cisco asked as Barry returned to the loft.

"We can't touch Thawne now." Barry said.

"What, why not?" Iris asked.

"Because he is the only one who can solve my current problem." Barry said.

"Uh Bar, he is your current problem." Joe said.

"Not anymore he isn't." Barry said.

"Barry, what's going on?" Caitlin asked.

"The speed force is dying." Barry said.

"What? How is that possible? I didn't think it was possible for the speed force to die." Cisco asked.

"I didn't either, but I pushed it too far during crisis." Barry said.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked.

"Do you remember when Pariah sent me and the other paragons away before the anti matter wave hit?" Barry asked.

"Yeah of course, why?" Iris asked.

"Well he sent us to a place called the Vanishing point. It's a place that exists outside of space and time." Barry said.

"Meaning that the antimatter wave couldn't reach you guys there. Smart. But what does that have to do with anything?" Cisco asked.

"After we got there, I tried to travel into the speed force to go back in time and stop the anti monitor, but I couldn't. Then Oliver showed up as the spectre and I made him give me his spectre energy to give me the energy boost I needed to get into the speed force and while it worked, that energy caused a meltdown in the speed force that's destroying it and once that happens." Barry said.

"And without the speed force, your powers will vanish and there's only one person in the universe who can solve that problem." Cisco said and Barry nodded.

"The only way I can restore my speed is if we build an artificial speed force and the only person who knows how to do that successfully is Eobard Thawne." Barry said.

"But why would he do it?" Joe asked.

"Because that artificial speed force is the only way he can get back to his own time." Barry said.

"He's right. As far as Thawne knows, there's no way Barry would be able to reach the necessary speed to open a time portal before the speed force dies and even if he did, the speed force would likely be too dangerous to navigate anyways, especially when it could collapse on him halfway back to the future." Cisco said.

"So what you're saying is that if Thawne wants to go home, he has to restore the Flash's speed." Joe said.

"Pretty much. I bet he'll love realizing that." Barry said.

"How are we going to let him know without revealing anything to him?" Iris asked.

"That's what we have Gideon for." Barry reminded her.

"I get it. So we have Gideon plant the idea in his head to create a new speed force for you and then we trap him in it." Iris said.

"Exactly." Barry said.

"Guess we better get to work." Caitlin said and they all nodded in agreement.


	4. Chapter 4

"Gideon, what is so urgent you nearly blew my cover?" Thawne asked as he wheeled into the Time Vault to find Gideon waiting for him.

"I thought you'd be interested to know that your plans are at risk." Gideon said, getting Thawne's full attention as he made sure the time vault was sealed before getting up and speeding to the plinth.

"You thought right. What's going on?" Thawne demanded as he pulled up the article, only to find it was gone.

"There is no record of the Flash anywhere in history. It's like he never existed and based on my current readings of Barry Allen, his speed levels are dropping rapidly. His cells are no longer drawing energy from the speed force." Gideon said.

"Does he still have his speed?" Thawne asked.

"Yes, for now." Gideon said.

"What could've caused this?" Thawne demanded, since if these readings were right and of course they were, his whole plan was falling apart and he'd never get home.

"According to my scans, it would appear that the speed force itself is dying." Gideon said.

"That's impossible." Thawne said.

"Evidently not. It is unlikely that even if Barry Allen could draw more energy from the Speed Force, he would not be able to achieve the required speed to open the time portal and even if he could, traveling through time through the speed force is not advisable in its current condition." Gideon said.

"I know." Thawne said as he pounded his fist against the plinth. This should be the best news he could possibly hear. That his greatest and most hated enemy would soon cease to exist. He should be planning his next strike against the Flash to end him and all those he cared about now. But he couldn't. Not if he wanted to go home and that's what he wanted more than anything. To return to his own time, those he was going to miss the burgers, which were the only thing of value he considered from the 21st century.

"I only have one option if I want to go home don't I?" Thawne said, though he was really hoping that Gideon would give him an alternative answer.

"Well, you could send an SOS to the Vanishing Point." Gideon said.

"No. I've worked too hard to keep the Time Wraiths off my trail, I have no desire to put the time masters onto it either, since while they are nowhere near as scary as a Time Wraith, they're just as bothersome when they locate time travelers." Thawne said.

"Then I'm afraid that you only have one option. Creating the Flash was not enough in this timeline. You must also ensure his survival by restoring his speed and there is only one way to accomplish that feat." Gideon said.

"I have to create an artificial speed force for Barry, since unless my connection to the negative speed force suddenly stabilizes again, I need the Flash in order to get home." Thawne said.

"You could always have Barry Allen connect to the Negative Speed Force." Gideon suggested.

"Not a chance. My only advantage over the Flash before was that he and no other speedster could sense me coming because of the negative speed force. If I allow Barry to connect to it, I lose that advantage. Besides, that would lead to other complications that would threaten my plans." Thawne said.

"I would recommend bringing in this time period's leading expert on extra dimensional energies to help, since she could be valuable in helping you come up with a 21st century version of an artificial speed force machine." Gideon said.

"It would help explain how I was able to create the machine so quickly. I believe I know who you're recommending and I do agree with you, especially if it ends up creating another speedster I can use to go home even sooner." Thawne said.

"Yes. I am referring to Jesse Allen, younger sister of Barry Allen and will also be known as the speedster Lightspeed." Gideon said.

"I'll reach out to her tomorrow. In the meantime. Begin making a list of the components I'll need to begin constructing the artificial speed force and locations on where to find them, since I'll need to time it all out to be able to use my limited speed to acquire them." Thawne said.

"Done." Gideon said as Thawne began finalizing his new plans, completely unaware that for once, he was the one being manipulated.

"Have to admit, it feels good to be the ones manipulating Thawne instead of being manipulated by him for a change this time around." Cisco said as he, Barry and Caitlin watched the footage from the Time Vault on his phone.

"Yeah. But anyways, why did you bring us to this warehouse?" Barry asked, since Cisco had asked him and Caitlin to meet him at an empty warehouse.

"Because Barry, your loft isn't exactly an ideal headquarters and I don't think that you want us there at all hours of the day, so, check out our new temporary base until Thawne is off the board. One way or another." Cisco said as he opened the door to the warehouse to reveal that he'd outfitted it with the basics of what they'd need for a base.

"I figure that we'll still be able to go to Star Labs for a majority of stuff, this place is mainly for making things that would draw too much attention from Thawne if I made them where he could find them." Cisco said.

"Like what?" Caitlin asked.

"Most importantly, the quantum splicer for Firestorm, since we all know that if they aren't separated soon, they'll go nuclear and destroy the city." Cisco said and Barry and Caitlin both nodded in agreement, since that was a very high priority.

"What else are you working on?" Barry asked.

"What do you think? Making super suits." Cisco said as he nodded towards several mannequins he'd set up, all of them containing different suits.

"I can't help but notice a certain lack of red." Caitlin said, since Cisco had made a suit for her and for himself, along with suits for Ralph, Oliver, John, Laurel, Rene, Roy, Thea, Dinah, Sara and Nate, there wasn't any sign of any speedster suits.

"I thought I might wait until we're sure the Flash will keep his speed to make a suit for him. Sorry Barry." Cisco said, but Barry shrugged it off.

"No, you're right. No point in giving Central City the Flash if he's just gonna lose his speed before he even has a chance to really use it." Barry said.

"Hey, we all know that Thawne is going to pull through, since unless he gets his memories and his powers restored, he's stuck here until he gives the Flash his speed back." Cisco said.

"I hope so. But still, I wish we had a way to build the ASF without needing his help, since I don't trust him not to find some way to mess with it." Barry said.

"We don't have a choice Barry. Thawne is the only person who knows how to make an artificial speed force and we don't have time to figure it out ourselves, since it's only a matter of time until the speed force dies for real and once that happens, you'll only have whatever speed you have stored up in your cells." Caitlin said.

"Which is exactly why I have refrained from using my speed unless I absolutely have too." Barry said.

"On a different topic, at least we know now that Jesse is supposed to become a speedster too." Caitlin said.

"Yeah and I have to admit, I'm digging the name, Lightspeed. Can't believe I didn't come up with that myself." Cisco said, deeply ashamed of himself for not coming up with that name.

"Maybe in this universe you did, since it does sound like your work." Barry said.

"Maybe. But still." Cisco said.

"Sounds like a Gridlock paradox." Caitlin said, since this did sound like how they learned about Gridlock's identity. First someone from the future revealed it to them and then at some point later on Cisco came up with the name himself.

"I really am fortune's fool." Cisco said.

"A good name is a good name." Barry said.

"Anyways, we're gonna need a way to keep Jesse from trusting Wells too much." Barry said.

"Well, we could restore her memories. After all, she does look just like the Jesse we knew. She could be our Jesse's doppelganger." Caitlin said.

"And Jesse is adopted." Barry said, since he now remembered that in this reality, Jesse was not his blood related sister, but his parents had actually adopted her when he was a kid, not that it had mattered, since he'd still loved her like she was his blood and he still did.

"You think that maybe she really is the daughter of the Harrison Wells of this Earth? As in before Thawne?" Caitlin asked.

"It's possible. If Barry wouldn't mind using a little bit of his speed, we can find out for sure." Cisco said and Barry nodded.

"I'll be right back." Barry said as he sped out, first heading to Hudson University, where Jesse was currently attending and he also remembered that she was one of Professor Stein's students, and quickly snagged a sample of her blood before taking a real risk and going to Star City where he recovered the body of the real Harrison Wells, not that Thawne knew, since Gideon had blinded his speedster sensors on his orders, and grabbed a DNA sample from him before returning to Cisco and Caitlin.

"Here you go." Barry said as he handed both vials to Cisco.

"Let's find out if we're right." Cisco said as he used some of the biologist equipment he'd brought to the warehouse to run a DNA test.

"Yeah, this test confirms it. Jesse is the daughter of Harrison Wells on this earth, which means that her memories can be restored with those of her Earth 2 counterpart." Cisco said.

"I'm working as fast as I can on it." Cisco said.

"Don't run yourself into the ground." Barry said quickly.

"I'm not, but still, I'm trying to be prepared." Cisco said.

"Come on, we better get to Star Labs before Thawne gets suspicious and comes looking for us." Caitlin said and they all nodded as they headed out.


End file.
